Elicit Plant at World Agri-Tech London

Exchanging ideas and building on the agri-food transition: the place to be

World Agri-Tech is THE exhibition where international agri-food professionals come for two days of round-table discussions and networking to accelerate the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. So it was an obvious choice for Elicit Plant to take part in the discussions and make its contribution.

Preserving arable crop yields: a major issue

We were very proud and honoured to be able to host a round table discussion on the topic of preserving field crop yields in a context of water scarcity, in the presence of Jean-François Déchant, CEO Elicit Plant, Ralph Beckers, Chief Strategic Marketing Elicit Plant and Pam Marrone, Entrepreneur, advisor on innovation for biologicals and Elicit Plant board member.
Breakout session provided an opportunity to explain Elicit Plant’s positioning and the unique technology deployed to help field crops better withstand water shortages, thereby preserving yields during periods of water stress for farms.
Ralph Beckers presented the technology developed by Elicit Plant, its mode of action, the consistency of the test results obtained and its development potential via the EliTerra R&D platform, which makes it possible to exploit the properties of phytosterols and formulate products adapted to each crop and each stress.

Jean-François Déchant took the opportunity to recall the context and the acceleration of climate change, its impact on agricultural yields around the world, and the difficulties faced by farmers in finding high-performance, profitable solutions to address the urgent need for arable crops. They explain that, unlike most biostimulants, Elicit Plant has carried out hundreds of trials around the world in order to fully understand the mode of action of the active ingredient and thus develop products with a performance of close to 100% when applied under the right conditions. This product development strategy enables us to offer high-performance solutions tailored to the context of each crop.

The breakout session also provided an opportunity for questions and answers from the floor and from Elicit Plant’s directors.
Pam Marrone, a world leader in the field of biosolutions, explained why she chose to invest in Elicit Plant, even though she is called upon every day to advise agtech start-ups. In particular, she explained that if she decides to get involved with a company, it’s “for something unique, a different technology, which offers a very high return on investment for farmers”, and that she needs to understand how it works, whether there are patents, who the managers are… “Elicit Plant ticked all the boxes. Elicit Plant ticked all the boxes… What was presented initially was impressive and the development of the company and the performance of the trials have only confirmed this initial analysis”. Elicit Plant’s ability to test products under real farmer conditions, on a precision farm, and thus accelerate the product development cycle, is also one of the conditions for the company’s success, she added.

She went on to explain how the technology works and her observations: in optimal conditions, i.e. under water stress, the results are convincing, and applying the right formulation at the right dose and at the right time has a lasting effect right up to harvest.

Drought, a major concern for the agronomic sector

The discussions at the round table confirmed that water stress is a major concern for the agronomy sector, and that the solutions proposed by Elicit Plant have not only aroused a great deal of interest, but have also been identified as indispensable and unique in the fight against climate change and the problem of water scarcity in field crops.